Old Friends
by Haras
Summary: Set about six years after chosen, but slightly au ending. Dawn and everyone else believe that Buffy, Spike, Anya and some of the potentials died in the final battle, but six years later, they meet an old friend.....
1. Dear Diary

Disclaimer: Any character in the story that you don't recognize from the show I made up, other than that all characters are owned by Joss Whedon,

Summary: Set about six years after chosen, but slightly au ending. Dawn and everyone else believe that Spike, Buffy, Anya, and a few of the new Slayers died in the final battle, However, six years later they meet an old friend………..

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Dear Diary,

I Know I haven't written in a while – neglecting you after you were my only friend for so long.

The only way I can justify it is that a lot has happened in the last six years. Its gone by so fast.

We've all lost a lot of people – and gained a few new friends.

I'm all grown up now, 23, as old as, No, I won't go into that just yet.

Well we've all moved on, in the literal sense of the word – we all moved to Boston after the fight with the first was over.

And I've followed in my big sister's footsteps. In two respects – one I work as a counsellor and two, I fell in love with an older man – but at least he's not a vampire.

Well you may wonder why I've suddenly decided to write. Well I've been off work for a couple of weeks now, nothing serious, just some stomach bug I can't seem to shift.

But I was mooching round the house bored stiff and decided to clear my closet out, and I found you. One of the only things I had with me when we fled a collapsing Sunnydale. After the collapse we all had to do some pretty major shopping!. 

Anyway, I thought you deserved an update – you're one of the only links to the past I've got and I thought it'd be nice to start you up again.

Anyway, I'll bring you up to date with a recap of all that's happened in the last six years.

During the battle with the first, most of us made it outside at some point and we all jumped on to one of those big yellow school buses, you know the sort, anyway it got to the point when we were only waiting for Buffy, Spike, Faith, Anya and a couple of the newly called slayers.

We waited for as long as we possibly could.

After what seemed like hours Faith came running towards the bus screaming at us to drive.

Then we saw it, the school was starting to collapse and Buffy, Spike and Anya were still inside.

Giles started to drive, even as I screamed at him to stop, to wait, just a few minutes more.

Faith jumped up onto the bus, but there was still no sign of Buffy, Spike or Anya. I ran to the back of the bus, screaming her name. I felt a pair of strong muscular arms grab me and hold me back, even as I decided to jump off the bus and go find her myself.

I spun inside the tight grip, the torrent of curses and screams died on my lips as I saw Xander, arms clamped around my waist, tears streaming down his cheeks.

I turned again, to watch, my eyes desperately searching, waiting for her to appear.

I watched as the school imploded, and the surrounding ground started to crumble and fold in on itself..

Now our drive turned into a race against the burgeoning sinkhole. Still I watched, waiting, vaguely aware of the curses and pleas and prayers going on in the background, still aware of the tight grip on my waist. I knew she'd make it. She had to.

As we reached the city limits and crossed over, The sinkhole seemed to reach its own limits, and I knew. She hadn't made it, and neither had Spike, Anya or the couple of new slayers we were still missing.

As the horrific truth sank in I turned to Xander and collapsed sobbing into his arms, he slowly lowered us both down until we were kneeling on the dirty floor of the bus.

Giles slowed and ultimately stopped the bus. He came and stood behind us. I heard one word 'Buffy?' and felt Giles's hand on my shoulder. It was Willow who had spoken and I felt the air move as she rushed past us to get out of the bus.

I stayed where I was, all the exhaustion of the last few weeks catching up with me.

I could hear Willow outside, screaming their names, over and over. 

After what seemed like hours, but in realty was only a few minutes I got up, dragged Xander and Giles with me outside the bus to the edge of the sinkhole. Everyone that was capable was following, I knew but it didn't seem of any importance.

I reached the edge and looked out, Willow, Faith and Kennedy to my right, and Xander, Giles and Andrew to my left. I searched the horizon with my eyes, knowing they hadn't made it, but refusing to believe it, acknowledge it. 'th-they must be just down there. We have to go help them. - ' I started, slightly hysterically, which is when 

Xander and Willow, to my immediate left and right, both grabbed a hold of me. Presumably to stop me actually going down into the sinkhole. 'Please I have to get to them I have to help them, let me go to her, _Please_' 

'Dawnie,' Willow pleaded, hesitating. Not wanting to say the words that would mean they were truly gone.

'They're gone, Dawn, They Didn't make it out' Xander told me gently

At which point I pretty much lost it. I managed to squeak out one word, 'Buffy' before everything went black.

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I truly don't know how we got through those first few days. After I fainted, Xander picked me up and carried me back onto the bus with everyone trailing behind.

Giles drove us to the nearest hospital, so we could all get checked over and the ones that needed it could get treatment. I'm told Xander never left my side, not once, - I was out for almost 24 hours – they reckoned it was just pure exhaustion and shock. I did have a concussion though, and they kept me in the hospital for two days

Throughout my hospital stay, Xander was a permanent fixture by my bed. Willow and Giles were nearly constantly there, too, but not as constant as Xander who wouldn't even leave me to get himself treated. 

I thought it was his way of coping with Anya's death, by focusing all his energy and attention on me he didn't have to deal.

Giles was mainly silent, avoiding eye contact, and wouldn't say Buffy's name. He never cried in front of me, but whenever I saw him those first few days his eyes were red and puffy.

Willow, well she babbled a lot and was constantly asking if I was alright, if I needed anything. 

Xander was just, _there_ for me, he fussed over me, without being obvious. Kept fluffing my pillows, fetching me things, he always seemed to know what I needed before I did.

And me, I just couldn't stop crying.

When I was discharged from hospital, they showed me the hotel, that everyone who hadn't been admitted to hospital was staying in. it was huge, not too far from the outskirts of what used to be Sunnydale . 

I was gonna be sharing a suite with Willow, Kennedy, Giles and Xander. I had a room to myself, for the first time in months. Giles and Xander shared a room, and Willow and Kennedy shared a room. 

That first night I was so lonely, for months I hadn't had five minutes to myself, let alone a whole room for a whole night. I lay there with the light on, as I couldn't stand to be alone in the dark, crying my eyes out. Huge sobs wracked my body, and I didn't care if anyone heard me. Then at 1 a.m. Xander popped his head round the door

'I got up for a glass of water and I heard… Are you ok Dawn?' when I didn't answer him he came fully into the room, 'Dawn?' he came and sat on the edge of my bed

'I'm so lonely,' I told him between sobs, 'and I miss her - _them_ so much'

'I know Dawn, me too'

'Could – Could you stay with me, tonight – I don't want to be alone yet' I'd pleaded, and he did.

We fell asleep together on the bed, him curled around me.

The next few days, - weeks – were a bit of a blur for me, I don't remember much to be honest. One thing that I do vaguely remember, we went to the edge of the crater-that-used-to-be-Sunnydale, a day or so after everyone got discharged form hospital. All of us, we wanted a sort of memorial service, to say goodbye to those we lost. Me, Xander, Willow and Giles stood closest to the edge.

Me between Xander and Willow, Giles to Willow's left. It was unusually cold and windy. We all stood there for what seemed like hours. Tears streaming down each face.

Each and every one of us, including the new slayers said something, even if it was only thank you.

I don't remember exactly what I said – apart from that I was sorry I couldn't help them, missed them and I told Buffy and Spike not to worry, that I'd be well looked after. 

We, me, Xander, Willow and Giles, had taken a huge bunch of blood red roses up, and we threw them into the crater, one by one.

And that was that. 

But that was the last time I went to the hole in the ground that had cost too many people their lives. I couldn't bear to go back again.

Giles went back though, still does, once a year, always on the same day. I know he does, though he's never told me. One day, I may go with him, I don't know. 

Anyway, after the memorial we all headed away from what used to be Sunnydale, used to be our home. 

I went with Giles, Xander, Willow, Kennedy, Faith and Robin. – First we went to L.A. to see Angel and his 'gang'. Boy was that fun.

After a couple of months in L.A. we headed East. We all wanted a change – and what better than to get out of the state where 3 of us had lived all our lives. 

We headed out to Boston, Massachusetts. Thought the change may help us get used to it quicker, I guess though it still wasn't easy but it worked to some extent.

I don't think I could have stayed around Angel and his friends much longer, and I couldn't have stayed in California. You don't get much more of a change from Sunnydale California than Boston Massachusetts do you?

But it suited us all fine. To start with we all stayed in another random hotel, all of us together.

Giles went to court to become my legal guardian, after my father tracked me down and tried to drag me off to live with him and his twenty year old popsicle.

And we started to look for somewhere to live on a more permanent scale. Somewhere we could all live comfortably, with space.

Eventually we found somewhere big enough. A huge house on Walnut street, with space to spare. It was about five to six months after Sunnydale did it's whole sinkhole act that we moved in. 

I had started at my new school and all was going well. My grades were high, despite missing so much time, I worked extra hard to catch up. I even went to college, studied Psychology, and social studies. I even made some good friends. 

But I was still mourning my sister and friends.

Willow, Giles, Faith, Robin and even _Kennedy_ tried to help, but the only one who managed to comfort and console me was Xander.

He knew that all I needed was quiet comfort, - to be left alone until I came and asked for help..

And when I needed to, it was Xander I went to. I could sit, curled in his arms, crying my eyes out for hours on end. He never said a word to anyone.

We even fell asleep together a few times. Boy was that a shock for Giles and Willow when they walked in one morning, unable to find me. 

Weeks passed, then months, and me and Xander got closer and closer. Giles became even more of a communal father figure.

Faith and Robin got closer too. Everyone joked that he had managed to tame her.

About a year and a half after we first moved into the house, they announced they were getting engaged, and moving out as our house afforded them too little privacy.

They moved out a couple of months later, but only a few streets away. They found a gorgeous house on Revere street. And as I'm telling you this, she's about ready to pop with their second child. Their first being born 9 months after their wedding. But we'll come back to them later.

Not long after Robin and Faith's wedding, Willow and Kennedy had a huge fight. I can't remember exactly what it was about, - but Kennedy was upset with one of us for something and Willow didn't back her up. However, it resulted in Kennedy moving out, and since she never really fully integrated with our group, we didn't really see much of her after that.

Willow's recently started seeing someone else- Kate, my best friend, - well about seven to eight months ago. They've been thinking of moving in together. Kate's great, she's more of a part of the group now than Kennedy ever was or wanted to be.

As for me, and Xander, - e became so close we were constantly together, and very slowly we sort of slipped into coupledom – no one really noticed at first and we agreed to take it very very slowly. 

It was a bit weird at first – I mean he was my dead sister's best friend, but we got over the weirdness and after we'd been together as a couple for two years, he proposed, it was so romantic, but I'll tell you 'bout that another time.

We got married the following spring, and have now been married for just under a year. We live in the same house we all moved into originally, Giles still lives with us, as does Willow, though she will probably move out in the not too distant future.

Well that about catches you up, and I've gotta go because I just heard the front door, Someone's home.

I'll come back later.

Dawn 


	2. Home Sweet Some

Disclaimer: Any character in the story that you don't recognize from the show I made up, other than that all characters are owned by Joss Whedon,

Summary: Set about six years after chosen, but slightly au ending. Dawn and everyone else believe that Spike, Buffy, Anya, and a few of the new Slayers died in the final battle, However, six years later they meet an old friend………..

A/N: Sorry it's taken so long, lifes been a little hectic.

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Giles walked into the porch of his beacon hill home after a full day at his job at the local high schools library.

he was usually the first one home, but he knew there was someone else in the house today.

"Dawn?" 

The poor young woman had not been well recently. She'd got a stomach flu or some bug and had been home from work for the last couple of weeks.

"Dawn, are you home?"

"Coming, just a sec"

He could hear her moving around upstairs, then thundering down the two flights of stairs.

He waited for her to reach the bottom, envelop him in a tight hug and then stand before him, as usual. 

"How are you feeling today Dawn? Any better?"

"Well, I'm still throwing up, and I'm kinda tired, so – about the same really." She replied gloomily

"Yes, you are still very pale, - I think that maybe you should go and see a doctor."

"Oh stop worrying Giles, I'll be fine. Really" she looked a little downcast and Giles wondered to himself why, but shook the thought from his head. 

There was about half an hour before the rest of the household would make an appearance, so she would have to put up with his efforts to cheer her up instead of her husband's, which were likely to work better but still, one had to make do he supposed.

"Do you want a hot drink Dawn?"

"um – Please – a hot chocolate - thanks"

"Ok, go sit in the den and I'll make them and bring them through to you, okay?"

He wandered through to the kitchen to fix dawn's hot chocolate and a cup of tea for himself. 

When the drinks were made he placed the steaming cups on a tray, popped a few mini-marshmallows onto the hot chocolate and carried it through to the den.

He offered the tray to Dawn, who picked up her cup, smiled into it and said, 

"Thanks Giles, Just like Mom used to make" her smile disappeared, though only briefly. 

She took a sip of the hot liquid, allowing it to soothe and calm her so the smile reappeared brightly.

"It's getting to that time of year again." She stated by way of explanation.

"I know" Giles told her softly.

"You'll be going away for a few days soon then?" she asked him

"H- How did you know?" He stuttered

"You do every year – You go to Sunnydale's Crater. Did you think I wouldn't realize?"

"N-No – I mean, I didn't want to upset you"

"I might come with you"

"Oh"

"yeah, I think its time to go back, see it again, them again. Closure."

"Ok." They lapsed into silence for a few minutes.

"It's been so boring being home alone these last few weeks," Dawn started on a different subject. "I can't wait to get back to work, - anything to get away from daytime TV." She laughed and Giles joined in. 

"But seriously – I'm sick of being sick. I don't even know how I caught this stupid bug."

"Probably from a client at work."

"Yeah, Probably, Anyway, how was your day Giles?"

"Oh, the usual, You know, waiting for student's to need my help, checking books in and out, same as always."

"Bet you miss having the Scoobie's in the library huh?"

"well yes, I do at times, when it gets quiet."

"All the noise, hormonal teen's and apocalypse's?" 

"Lord no, Well, it _can_ get a bit boring sometimes, but that never bothered me before I met…" he trailed off

"Buffy"

"Uh, well, Yes."

They sat in companionable silence for a while. Both thinking of the same person. A Car pulling up outside disturbed them from their reverie. Dawn's face lit up and Giles smiled to himself as she jumped up and practically bounced to the front door to meet her husband.

He was amazed that the two were so happy together, had found each other through so much shared grief, although, he remembered being so shocked at first, when he and Willow found them sharing a bed together.

_Flashback_

_Giles and Willow knocked on Xander's door, both sharing a worried glance when he didn't answer immediately – he was usually up at this time. They walked in without a second thought._

"Xander – have you seen…." Willow trailed off in shock as both she and Giles came to a standstill on seeing Xander and Dawn curled around each other, both just waking up

"I-I'm S-sorry I d-didn't know both Willow and Giles stuttered.

"What? – OH! No its nothing, - Dawn and I just…." Xander tried explaining

end flashback

Giles shook his head to clear the memory.

The front door opened.

"Honey, I'm home,"The man standing in the doorway joked for the billionth time as he gathered his wifes small waist into his arms

"Hi Dawnie, how you feelin? Any better?"

"I am now you're home" she beamed at him.

"You always make me feel great Xand"

"Hello Xander"

"Hey G-Man"

After saying hello Giles wandered upstairs to give the pair some time alone.

"Are you sure you're feeling better Honey? You still look awfully pale and drawn, you still throwing up?"

"A little" she confessed "But I am feeling better now – or I was" She told him taking a step back, if possible she had gone even paler suddenly, she noticed for the first time how tired she actually was. She stumbled a little and felt her legs giving way, just before she lost consciousness.

Xander caught his petite wife in his muscular arms before she hit the floor. He brought her legs up and carried her against his chest. He took her upstairs to the first floor and called out to Giles who appeared at the top of the stairs almost instantly.

"What's wrong? Good lord what happened?" 

"Nothing, - she said she was feeling better, then just collapsed."

Xander carried her through to Faith and Robin's old room and laid her on the bed.

"Dawn? Dawn, wake up" Giles tried to rouse her through shaking her.

"Dawnie, Dawn Honey come on wake up, Dawn, please" There was a slight note of panic to Xander's voice. She started to stir

"Mmhwhah?" she mumbled, forcing her eyes open the tiniest amount.

"Dawn?" both men asked in unison.

"Yuh-huh?" she muttered her eyes opening a bit more and looking around "How did I get up here?"

"I carried you honey, you fainted – how are you feeling now?"

"Like someone ran over my head with a bulldozer, - I'm really tired, my head's killing and I feel nauseous."

"Honey, I think you should go to the doctors now, it's been a while and you aren't getting better."

"Xand I'm fine, really, it's just a bug."

"And the passing out proves just how fine you are. But seriously, you aren't getting any better and it could be more serious than just a bug, just go and get checked over."

"Yes Dawn, as I said earlier, it would be wise to visit the doctor."

"Guys stop worrying."

"Please Dawn, for me?"

"Oh all right I'll go, I'll book an appointment later."

"Thank you, I'll come with you"

"No – no, they only have Daytime appointments and you have to work, I'll be fine alone."

"But what if you pass out again, someone has to go with you."

"Ok Ok fine, one of my friends can come with me."

"Thank you. Do you wanna come downstairs with us?"

"No, thanks Honey, but I think I'll just go have an hour or twos rest, then I'll call the doctor." 

"Ok Dawn, You want me to carry you up to bed?"

"Please Xan, I don't think I could walk that far."

"I'll go downstairs then" Giles informed Xander, shooting him a look that went completely unnoticed as the younger man looked down lovingly at his wife. Giles left the room quietly.

Xander picked Dawn up against his chest and carried her up to their bedroom.

He placed her gently on the bed and pulled a blanket over her. He looked at her lying there with her eyes closed and presumed she was already asleep. 

He placed a kiss on her forehead and turned to leave the room. As he got to the door, before he left the room he heard her say three small words.

"Love you Xan." He smiled and left the room.


	3. Shock, and a trillion other emotions

Disclaimer: The characters in the story, apart from ones you don't recognize from the show are not mine, they are owned by joss Whedon.   
  
A/N : Hey, took me a while, I had this whole third chapter written out, but then I lost it, so I've had to alter it, I've written up to chapter eight on paper, but well, I guess it's seven now since I've decided to skip a chapter. It was kinda pointless and not all that good so I figured you'd all be happier with this chapter instead. Thank you for all the reviews. They've really been great, make me go all happy and giddy! Anyway, enough babble and on with the story, this is about 4 days after the last chapter, …..  
  
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Dawn walked to the doctors office, since it was only a few blocks away.  
  
Despite Xander's insistence that she needed accompaniment, all her friends were busy, and she was a big girl now and could take care of herself.  
  
Although, she hadn't told Xander that she'd be going alone, or walking.  
  
He would have taken the day off work and insisted upon going with her.   
  
She was actually quite worried about what could be wrong with her, despite all her protests. She felt absolutely awful, Nauseous, Weak, achy, the lot.  
  
As she walked she basked in the sun and mild weather, totally different to the Californian weather she'd grown up with. It was early spring and she loved the vibe in the air.  
  
It only took her a few minutes to get to the doctors and once she entered the large red brick clinic she didn't have long to wait.  
  
She had just settled into one of the comfy blue chairs when,  
  
"Dawn Harris, the doctor will see you now" The nurse announced   
  
she stood and followed her through the door and hallway into a large airy room with two chairs, a desk and a bed-like doctors couch with a cream curtain to one side, ready to hide the bed if needed.  
  
Doctor Conway was seated behind his desk, and as Dawn entered the room the nurse pulled the door shut behind her.  
  
"Hi Dawn, please take a seat," The doctor gestured to the seat n front of him, smiling widely at her.  
  
"Um, Hi, Doctor" She smiled a little nervously as she sat down.  
  
"Right then Dawn, what seems to be the problem?"  
  
"Well, for a couple of weeks now, I've been almost constantly sick and nauseous, and well, I keep getting really, really tired. Even if I'm not doing anything, and I've even passed out a couple of times."  
  
"Okay, do you have any other symptoms?" the doctor looked at her kindly.  
  
"None that I've noticed."  
  
"Right then, I think we'll do a couple of tests. We'll need to take blood and urine I'm afraid Dawn." He reached into a drawer in his desk, then handed her a cardboard cup.  
  
"If you'd just like to go down the corridor, the bathroom is the third door on the left, then bring that back here, thanks."  
  
"Ok" she blushed slightly, but stood and left the room.  
  
After a few minutes she returned, cup in hand, and sat back down.   
  
"Ok Thank you Dawn" Doctor Conway said, taking the cup. He placed it on a work surface at the back of the room.  
  
He stood up and moved around towards Dawn.  
  
"I'll just need to take some blood for more tests please Dawn. If you could just roll up your sleeve please."   
  
Dawn did as asked and the doctor placed a tourniquet around the top of her arm tightly. He took a cotton swab out of a packet and wiped the crook of her elbow clean.  
  
He then took a needle and syringe out of its packing and affixed the little collecting bottle to it and turned to Dawn.  
  
"Okay Dawn, you'll just feel a little sting as the needle goes in , but it'll only take a couple of seconds."  
  
Dawn looked away, she couldn't stand needles. She gasped as she felt the needle pierce the skin on her arm and stay there.   
  
Seconds later she heard the doctor say,   
  
"Okay, all done, now I'll just run some basic tests on these to see what we come up with, and determine whether we need to look a little deeper. I'll be back in a few minutes."  
  
Doctor Conway left the room, taking the little vial of her blood and the cardboard cup with him. Dawn was left alone. She began to wonder, the doctor hadn't said what was tests he was running and he hadn't told her any suspicions.  
  
So, she worried for the entire fifteen minutes the doctor was gone. When he finally did come back in he sat down behind his desk, looked her in the eye and asked her,   
  
"Do you want the good news or the bad news first?"   
  
She regarded him nervously.  
  
"The bad" she decided.  
  
"Right, well. I'm afraid to say that you're symptoms are unlikely to go away immediately."  
  
She looked horrified  
  
"Wh-Why, What's wrong with me?"  
  
He laughed slightly,  
  
"Nothings wrong Dawn, …" he paused "You're going to have a baby."  
  
"A, - I'm – Wh – Huh?" Dawn stumbled over her words, completely in shock.  
  
"You're Pregnant" he re-iterated.  
  
"A Baby?" She all but whispered.  
  
"Yes Dawn. Can I ask you a few questions?" She nodded a little shakily.  
  
"When was the start of your last period?"  
  
"Um, oh- um, Hang on a second" she thought for a few minutes "April, April 20th – Oh god, I never realised I'd missed them."  
  
"Okay – well, your baby is due on Sunday 24th January. That makes you almost three months gone."  
  
"Oh – Wow" her voice was small. "I'm gonna be a mom?" she asked the doctor  
  
"Yes, I take it this wasn't planned?"  
  
"Um, No it wasn't really"  
  
"The father?"  
  
"My Husband"  
  
"Ok well, I've got some literature here for you to read about pregnancy and the basics, and there's much more out there for you to find if you so require."  
  
He rifled through one of his drawers and pulled out some leaflets and a thin book, and handed them to Dawn.  
  
"Here you go, I suggest you read as much as you can. I'll refer you to Doctor Davenport – she's an OB/GYN, very good, she'll look after you. Her Office will contact you to arrange an appointment – probably in the next couple of weeks or so, since your first trimester's almost up."  
  
"Ok" Dawn was still shocked  
  
"Do you have any questions?"  
  
"No, not really – I'm just – shocked, Y'know?"  
  
"Dawn," Doctor Conway turned serious "If you decide you don't wan this baby you do have options."  
  
"Not want My Baby?" she asked puzzled "Why wouldn't I want it?" She smiled dazzlingly at him as she stood up.  
  
"Thank You Doctor" She shook his hand vigorously.  
  
"You're welcome Dawn, 'bye"  
  
"'bye" with that she turned and left the doctors office, still shocked and in a daze, but feeling as if she was walking on air.  
  
She wandered down streets aimlessly, not really knowing nor caring where she was going. She wandered into a busy high street full of shops and entered the first bookshop she came across.  
  
Almost instinctively she went straight to the section on pregnancy and babies, picked up a book and flicked through it. Then another, and another before putting them back and moving away from that section altogether.  
  
She went and found the latest book by Xander's favourite author and bought that for him as a surprise and left the shop.  
  
She realises she was really thirsty so went and bought herself a decaff latte in a nearby coffee shop before deciding to head home so she could cook tea for everyone.  
  
She realised she had forgotten some important ingredient and figured she may as well buy something nice for dessert while she was in town. Dawn turned and headed back into the rush of the high street.  
  
Into the hypermarket she went and picked up everything she needed. She started to feel a little light-headed and dizzy, but put it down to the shock of the news she'd just received.  
  
As she left the hypermarket she could have sworn she saw two familiar heads.  
  
"No, no –it couldn't be" she muttered.  
  
Then again in the crowd, two blonde heads, one lighter than the other.  
  
Dawn felt worse, going very hot. One of the blonde heads tuned around and saw her, stopped and turned back to the other. They both turned towards her and stated to come closer.  
  
"NO it isn't It can't be" Dawn murmured to herself.  
  
She was feeling worse by the second now, a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach, she knew what was coming.  
  
The two blondes were right in front of her now and she couldn't deny it any longer.  
  
"Buffy? Spike?" she managed before her legs gave way and darkness engulfed her. 


	4. Worrying times

Sooooooooooooo sorry for the long wait. Really didn't mean to leave it this long, but had a bit of writers block, and about three other stories that are begging me to be written. Tho I won't be posting them till they're completely finished. So as not to keep you all waiting so long. Sorry again.

Disclaimer: long story short, Don't own Don't sue, not got anything you'd want anyway, lol

A/N: Hiya again, thanks to everyone who reviewed, 

Acid Fairy, Yoz, Xanya-Forever, The Goddess of Purple Coats, Cherry blue star, msberry, marie bluecarebear, tellmelies, sevhevcracksmeup, maricarebear, siri, ThisYearsGirl, lilmamaday, Silent Rush, silentangeloftime, youdontcarewhatmynameis, anonymous, rascal the racoon, and sinister chic heather martin, you all rock, thanks for brightening up my day, 

anyway i won't bore you this time i'll just get into the story, here you go...

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"Dawn? DAWN? Spike Get an ambulance, Dawn?"

Both Buffy and Spike were in complete shock after seeing Dawn after all this time, especially with her fainting straight away. Spike took out a cell phone and dialled.

"Oh Bloody Hell, Yeh, I'd like an Ambulance please" Spike told the operator on the other end of the line sarcastically.

"Umm, Honey, where are we?" He looked down at Buffy, now kneeling by her fallen sister. 

"The high street on Beacon Hill" Buffy snapped at him, irritably.

"Right pet, the high street on Beacon Hill, Boston," he paused, listening, "Yeah young girl's fainted, out cold, she hit her head when she fell." he listened again.

"Yeah uh-huh Ok" He hung up and replaced the phone in his coat.

"They'll be here in ten love" he told Buffy, keeling by his side and putting a hand on her shoulder.

Buffy nodded, not taking her eyes off the sister she hadn't seen for seven years.

A fair crowd had formed around them by the time the ambulance arrived.

two paramedics finally forced their way through the crowd to Dawn's side, even pushing both Buffy and Spike out of the way.

"Miss, can you hear me? Miss?" he tried shaking her shoulders gently.

"her name's Dawn," Buffy said in a small voice. the paramedic looked at her

"Dawn?" she nodded mutely.

"Does she have a last name?" the other paramedic asked.

"m-hmm Summers" Buffy replied without thinking or taking her eyes off her sister. the other paramedic continued to try and rouse Dawn, while checking her vitals.

"Right ok, how old is she?" asked the paramedic not working on Dawn.

"ummm," Buffy thought for a minute, mentally calculating her age, "23"

"O-kay" the paramedic filled in her details on a form he'd pulled out. "and you are?"

"Her sister."                                             

"Do you have a name?" he questioned

"Uh Yeah, Buffy" 

"Right," he nodded at her "We'll be taking your sister into the hospital, so they can check her out and see what's up, ok?"

"C-Can we come too?" she asked timidly

"Sure" he replied, Buffy only nodded.

While Buffy had been talking to the paramedic the other had checked Dawn over, to make sure they were okay to move her. They both loaded her onto a stretcher and covered her with a blanket. Then they pulled straps tightly across her chest stomach and legs to keep her from falling and pads around her head to keep it immobile, in case there was any damage.

Seeing her sister like that got Buffy even more terrified.

They carried Dawn's stretcher into the ambulance and motioned Buffy and Spike to follow them in. Once they secured the stretcher, and Buffy, Spike and the paramedic were seated the other paramedic climbed out and shut the back doors. seconds later he climbed into the front of the ambulance and they sped off with lights and sirens blaring.

After what seemed like an interminable amount of time to all of them thy arrived at the hospital.

The ambulances back doors burst open and they were met by a handful of nurses and a doctor.

"Right Hi, Who do we have here then?" the doctor asked.

"This is Dawn Summers, 23, she fainted in the street and hit her head when she fell." the paramedic filled them in on her vitals. whilst talking they were moving a still unconscious Dawn out of the ambulance and towards the hospital.

"I didn't find and damage, but we'll need an x-ray to confirm it. Other than that i don't know much. This here," he motioned towards Buffy "is her sister, am i correct?"

"Y-yes" Buffy stammered Spikes arm around her waist.

"Ok" The tall male doctor said, turning back to Dawn.

"Dawn, Can you hear me Dawn? Right, I want to run x-rays of her back, neck and head, also blood tests to check her levels and safety for x-ray. Admit her while we're waiting for the results, we may need to keep her in." he told one of the nurses, who pushed Dawn's gurney towards the lift.

"Ok Doctor Sculley"

"Wait! Where are they taking her?" Buffy all but screeched

"Calm down Pet, they're lookin after her"

"Yes, they're just taking her up to Abbott ward, and then they'll run some tests to see what's wrong with her, check she didn't hurt herself. When they're done you can go up and see her if you want."

"Please" 

"Ok, if you want to go to our relative's room, which is the last door on the right down there, I'll come and get you when she's ready, ok?"

"Th-thank you doctor"

With that the doctor followed the nurse, leaving Buffy and Spike to wait in the relative's room. Once they were settled into the overstuffed chairs Buffy turned to Spike.

"It's been seven years, and she's been here for who knows how long, and god knows what she's been thinking about us. She probably thought we were dead. She's gonna hate me." 

"Not possible Love. No-one could hate you"

"But it's been so long Spike; anything could have changed in seven years. What if she's been all alone, what if they all left her and she had no-one, what if…"

"Bit late for what ifs pet" Spike cut in. 

They fell silent for a long time. Both thinking about the young woman they'd just re-discovered, and her reaction to them.

Eventually the door to the room opened and Doctor Sculley walked in.

"Hi, You can go up and see your Sister now if you want to. We know why she fainted and we've ascertained that she suffered no injury when she fell other than a mild concussion."

"So, what's wrong, why did she faint?" Buffy had been on her feet since the moment the doctor walked into the room.

"Well, it's a side effect of her pregnancy, With all the changes her body's going through. Also any stress at all won't help, she really needs to take it easier for the next few months. But both her and the Baby will be absolutely fine."

"uh-huh, WAIT, did you say Pregnancy!?!"

"Y-yes Miss Summers, didn't you know, your sister is eleven weeks pregnant."

"Pregnant? At twenty three, She's pregnant?"

"Yes, she's most definitely pregnant."

"Oh God, Is she awake?"

"No, I'm afraid not, she's still unconscious and we have no idea how long she will remain so."

"Ok, well, I think we'll go up and sit with her for a while, till she wakes up. I need to talk to her." With that Buffy turned on her heel and started to march out the door.

"Wait, please don't upset your sister, she needs to keep calm and rest, she's suffering from stress and exhaustion." The doctor called after her.

"Don't worry doc, I'll make sure she don't upset her." Spike told the medic before following after Buffy at a jog.

When he caught up with Buffy she was ranting to herself about Dawn being careless and irresponsible.

"How could she do this Spike? how could she let this happen? I thought she was more sensible than that."

"Pet, it's been seven years. She could have changed a lot since then."

But Buffy wasn't listening to him. She raced up to the nurses station.

"Hi, I'm looking for my sister, Dawn Summers?" She asked the nurse on duty.

"Yes miss," the nurses consulted her bed chart. "She's in the last room on the left at the end of that corridor" the nurse said pointing.

"Thanks" Buffy said before stalking off in that direction.

They entered the room and Buffy gasped at the sight of her sister lying limply on the bed, Pale as death. They took seats to the left of Dawn's bed, with their backs to the door.

Buffy leaned over her sister and touched her cheek.

"Dawnie, c'mon wake up honey." She tried gently before leaning back and sighing deeply. 

Spike put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close to him. They sat in an uncomfortable silence, both staring at the seemingly tiny woman in the hospital bed. 

After an hour or so had passed Dawn stirred and her eyelids fluttered.

"Mmmm Xan?" she mumbled incoherently. 

"Dawn?" two worried voices sprang at once.

"huhwha?" Dawn's eyes opened fully still blinking furiously. She took in the worried nervous face of two people she had thought dead for the last seven years.

"Bu-Buffy? Spike?" she asked confused "But you're dead?"

"No, Dawn, No we're not, we weren't dead, I'm so sorry"

"Then why…?" Dawn started

"Dawn!" Suddenly a flurry of people burst into the room.

"Dawn you weren't home, I waited and then called round hospitals a-and I found you here, but under Summers. What happened? What's wrong?" a frightened male voice screeched. 

Dawn smiled groggily over Buffy and Spike's heads at the people who'd entered.

"Who…?" a female voice started.

Buffy and Spike turned around to look at the newcomers.

"Buffy? Spike? What?"

"Xander? Willow? I can't believe it, you guys? I didn't think you'd be that worried about my little sister. After all, you did let her go out alone" Buffy accused 

"She's a big girl you know Buffy. She's not sixteen any more. She can go out all alone sometimes." Xander spat at her.

"In her condition. I thought you all had more sense than that."

"In what condition? She's only got a stomach bug, haven't you Dawn? She only went to the doctors" he turned to Dawn "And you promised me someone was going with you. What did he say? Is that why you're here? What's wrong?"

"Um, I uh" Dawn spluttered. Not wanting to tell him in front of everyone, a little nervous of his reaction. Buffy turned to face Dawn.

"Who's the father Dawn?" she asked.

"Father?" Xander and Willow asked simultaneously. Buffy ignored them

"Who's is it Dawn? Did he knock you up then leave you? Why didn't you have more common sense? You're only twenty three! What are you gonna do?" Buffy ranted

"My Husband is the father." Dawn spat indignantly. "And no he didn't 'knock me up and leave'. Yet" she added in a quiet voice. She looked at Xander shyly and saw an expression of shock, love and pride on his face. He knelt by the edge of the bed.

"How long have you known?" he asked

"Um, since this morning" Dawn answered. Both studiously ignoring Buffy's cries of 'Husband?'

Xander turned and beamed proudly at willow, who was grinning like a madwoman.

"Husband Dawn? You're married? To who?" Buffy continued to question.

Xander stood up and faced her. He whispered two words

"To me"

"Y-You two?" She asked incredulously. "How, When?"

"About a year and a half we've been married now" he said calmly, with an edge of delirious happiness to his voice, Before turning back to his wife.

Both Buffy and Spike were shocked into silence, realizing for the first time just how much they had missed.

"And Now," Dawn looked directly at Xander, beaming at him. "We're going to have a baby. In about six months. I'm due on 24th January. Doctor Conway is referring me to an ob/gyn so I'll have an appointment soon"

"My God Dawn, We're gonna be parents" He leaned over and hugged her tightly. "Oh  love you so much" he whispered in her ear.

"I love you too." She told him.

There was a knock at the door.

"Not that I want to interrupt the moment, but Dawn, I need to do some checks."

"Ok, Doctor uh, Doctor…?"

"Sculley Dawn, Doctor Sculley."

"Ok um, Do you know if I'll be able to get out of here soon?" she asked displaying her blatant dislike of hospitals that she got from her sister.

"I should think so, just let me check you over again, then we can see about getting you home." 

"Thank You Doctor."

"Ok, Can I ask the rest of you to step outside for a minute or two then please?"

They all stood up, except for Xander, who was holding his wife's hand tightly, as if he'd almost lost her.

"Please sir, it'll only be a moment."

"I'll be ok Xan, only a couple o minutes."

He nodded reluctantly and joined the others in the corridor outside.

Doctor Sculley started by taking Dawn's blood pressure, temperature, asking her how she felt and such. Finally he perched on the edge of her bed.

"Dawn, your collapse today was the result of stress and exhaustion, as well as a side effect of the pregnancy. You've been over doing it. You need to take more care of yourself whilst pregnant and avoid all over-exertion. Its dangerous for both you and the baby. I'd suggest that you cut back a bit on working hours, and let your family and friends look after you more. You need to get a lot more rest, and try not to go out alone just in case. All I'm saying is be a bit more careful okay?" Dawn nodded slowly.

"Ok I will, Thank you doctor."

"Right well," he stood up, "I'm gonna go talk to your friends and family ok?"

"Yeah ok"

He smiled at her and left the room. As he entered the hallway he was surrounded by people.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Will She be okay?"

"Can we do anything?" Doctor Conway chuckled a little.

"Ok ok, one at a time people. There's nothing wrong with her that an awful lot of rest and relaxation wouldn't cure. All that happened is she got over stressed and tired, and collapsed. She's going to be absolutely fine. And yes you can do something. Dawn is going to need a lot of rest and support and help, and absolutely no sterr for the next six months. Don't let her over-exert herself, but don't make her feel redundant. If this were to happen again she could hurt herself or the baby, so make sure she's careful. I'm just going to confirm an appointment with Doctor Davenport and then she can go home." 

"Ok Thank you, can we go back in now then?" they asked anxiously.

"Yes, yes you can."

They thanked him again and re-entered Dawn's room. Doctor Sculley looked through the window into the room to see them all crowd round her talking animatedly. He smiled as he turned and walked off down the corridor.


	5. Going home

A/N: Sorry it's been so long, over a month. All I've got to say about it is that it's been a horrendous month. Along with having to juggle full time work, a demanding boyfriend, and a degree, I've had to deal with an anorexic cousin, and other family problems, and to top it all off the stress of it all has made me really ill. Hospital emergency room is so not the best place to spend a Saturday, so, sorry once again about the long wait, hope I haven't lost any readers, and sorry that this is so short, but hopefully I'll get the next one out soon, and hopefully it'll be a lot longer than this.

Well, I know that Willow and Xander didn't react much to buffy and spike, and I had a hard time writing that bit, but however much I tried, they stubbornly refused to react anymore, My theory is that they were really worried bout dawn, and they were relieved to see she was okay, and they were in shock, both with Dawn's news, and seeing them again,           

Thank you all for your reviews, they make me grin giddily, anyway, enough of my moping, please read, and enjoy,  X Haras X

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Shortly after the doctor left them, a nurse entered the room and explained to Dawn about her appointment with the ob/gyn and told her that she could leave when she was ready.

The Girl's legendary hatred of hospitals was second only to her long lost sister's so she was very quick to jump on the opportunity to go home.

After much discussion, and a few slightly heated words between Dawn, Xander and Willow, it was decided that Buffy and Spike should be offered an invitation to stay with them, at least for the night. 

Buffy and Spike gladly accepted, since it was now too late to find any other place to stay.

They all piled in to Xander's SUV and headed back to the house in a slightly uncomfortable silence.

Once there, Xander and Dawn decided to go in first, to let Giles know what was happening, so as not to present him with quite such a shock. 

They entered the house uneasily, with Xander taking most of Dawn's weight as she was still exhausted. 

They found Giles sitting in the den, holding a full mug of stone cold tea and staring into space. 

"Hey, Giles" Dawn said tiredly, His head jerked round, his eyes snapping into focus on the young woman and her husband. He stood and faced them

'God she looks awful' he thought to himself.

"Dawn, Good God what happened, why were you in the hospital, What's wrong??"

"I er kinda fainted up on beacon hill after I left the doctors"

"God, Dawn, What did the doctor say?"

"He said, um, he said, that I'm….." she paused, unsure of how to tell him, after a second she sighed and decided to bite the bullet and spit it out. "I'm Pregnant" she said with a slight smile.

Giles looked a bit shocked, and stood there staring at the two of them for a few seconds before breaking into a grin and moving to envelop them both into a hug.

"Congratulations, but Dawn, is that why you've been passing out, and been so tired then?"

"Er yeah, ummm Giles, there's something else we have to tell you," Dawn said, looking down at the ground nervously

"Yes?"

"Um, just before I passed out, I saw someone, someone we haven't seen for a long time, well two people really, ummm…." She broke off

"Who Dawn?" Giles asked, confused

"Ummm, it was … it was" She stopped, unable to say anymore, unshed tears gathering at her eyes.

"Dawn?" Giles asked again

"It was Buffy, Giles, and Spike" Xander answered for his wife.

Giles stood there for a second, pure shock spread across his features.

"I-I-I I think I need to sit down" he said quietly before going and half-sitting, half-collapsing onto the sofa. Dawn and Xander moved to sit beside him

"They're dead…… seven years………how?" was all they heard, mumbling to himself over and over.

"Giles, they're, … they're outside, they're gonna be staying the night, is that… is that okay?" Dawn asked tentatively.

"Outside? He asked vaguely, his eyes not focusing on anything.

"yeah, d'you want us to bring them in, so you can see for yourself?"

"see for myself?" he repeated, parrot fashion "yes, yes, bring them in. I must speak to her, tell her…" he said before his eyes snapped back into focus and he looked at them. 

They could both see the tears at his eyes, and Dawn was barely containing her tears too.

"O-okay, I'll go fetch her" Dawn told him and he nodded. She stood up alone, but had to put a hand out to steady herself as she wobbled slightly, Xander quickly stood up to support her, and lead her out of the room to fetch her sister. 

Gile sat on the sofa, a million thoughts running through her his head. Seconds later, Dawn and Xander returned, following  behind them was Willow, then Buffy and Spike.

"Giles?" Buffy asked in a small voice, looking at him hopefully

He stood and turned to face her.

"Buffy?" he asked in a voice full of emotion. Without another word, they closed the distance between them, and hugged each other tightly.

A/N2: again, sorry for the lack of length, but I really haven't got the energy to write more at the moment, though I'll try to be quicker with the next update. Please review and tell me what you think x haras x 


	6. Shattered Reunion

A/N: Hi All, Sorry it's been so horrifically long between updates but RL has really not been kind. I decided you shouldn't have to wait any longer and kicked my ass into gear to get this out, with any luck the next chappy should be out soon, though I can't promise. Hope there's still some people actually reading this and interested. Thanks to all of you that reviewed, it really brightened up my day. Anyway, you've waited long enough, on with the story….

Disclaimer: Don't own Don't sue.

Giles broke away first, and Buffy looked up at him with a question in her eyes. He stepped backwards, breaking all contact between the two of them. Neither one noticed the others lip quietly out of the room to the kitchen, wanting to give the pair a few minutes alone.

"Buffy" Giles started, unable to think much else, let alone form coherent sentences.

"You – You're here?" He asked after a few minutes silence. "You're really here?"

She nodded slowly, never taking her eyes of her surrogate Fathers face.

"All, All that time you were gone and now," He broke off, chocked with emotion, eyes shining with unshed tears. Never in Seven years had he cried for his charge, but he was unable to stop the flow now as his tears spilled over

"You were gone so long" He tried again "How come you've come back now? Why, Who brought you back?"

"Giles," Buffy started, "I – I was never," She sighed and tried again "I was never dead Giles." She looked at him, Her eyes full of hope, sorrow and regret.

"Never Dead" he repeated his face shining with confusion, he looked to the ground and repeated it under his breath again before he looked back up at Buffy, his face hardening and his eyes showing Anger, and sadness. "You were never dead? Then where have you been for the last Seven Years?" When he spoke his voice was hard and quiet.

"I- I've been with Spike" Buffy's voice too was quiet and she bowed her head. "I couldn't, Giles I'm sorry, but I just couldn't face you, Not after…" She trailed off, her head rising and her gaze settling on a chair just to the right of her former watcher.

"You're sorry?" He asked her "Sorry that you couldn't face me, or sorry that you let us all believe you were dead for seven years? Hmm?"

"Both. Giles…" She shifted her gaze to look at him. "After that last few months, everything that had happened between you and me, and all of them, and Spike too, after all that I couldn't face it, couldn't face the fall out. When the hell mouth went into collapse, Spike was gonna die with it, and I – I just couldn't let him, I just realised that I loved him. So I told him and dragged him out of there. And we didn't see any of you when we got out, so we didn't look, and…" She slumped, seeing the unyielding look on her former watcher's face.

"I think that's something you'll need to talk to your sister about" He said coldly.

He turned slightly, and walked past her into the hallway, heading for the kitchen, where the others were.

"Giles! Wait," she called hurrying after him, trying to reach him before he reached the others "Please Giles, understand…" She reached out for his arm to try and pull him back, but he was just out of reach, and he entered the kitchen without looking back at her.

She stopped in her tracks in the doorway between the Hall and the Den. She let out a deep sigh, and her shoulders slumped defeated. Her head hung for a few seconds before she lifted it up and shook of her Sorrow, and rejection, took a deep breath and walked the short distance to the kitchen.

As she entered she saw everyone gathered around a long breakfast bar running along the centre of the room. She noticed Giles sitting next to Dawn across from an empty seat, an unreadable expression on his face.

She glanced around the table to see if there were another empty seat for her, there were ten seats, but only six were pulled around the breakfast bar, the remaining four stacked neatly by the back door. She smiled lightly to herself. She was gonna have to sit opposite Giles.

She walked over and silently took the seat. As she did so, everyone at the table looked up at her, various emotions on their faces. She nodded slightly at all of them and proceeded to look at the work surface in front of her. Dawn stood up quietly, barely disturbing the hush that had fallen upon the group on Buffy's arrival.

"Would you like a drink Buffy?" Dawn asked "Hot or Cold?" She asked upon seeing Buffy's affirmative nod.

"Cold, please Dawn" Buffy's voice was quiet and thick, it sounded strange to Dawn's ears, not at all as she remembered. But when she looked at Buffy's face she understood. Her Sister was struggling to keep her emotions in check. Dawn couldn't be sure what she was feeling, but knew that whatever it was, it was strong. She caught her sister's eye and held her gaze for a few seconds. She broke it off and walked over to the refrigerator on the far side of the kitchen.

"Ok, we got Milk, Juice and I think….. Yeah we got a few cans of Soda in here too, what'll it be?" She asked, her head still in the fridge.

"Ummm, I'll have a soda please Dawn" Buffy answered.

Dawn was thankful for the excuse to keep her head in the fridge a little while longer. Man she was hot, burning up. She rummaged around trying to gain access to the soda's and at the same time thinking about her own feelings. So much had happened in the last twelve hours, and she wasn't sure how to take it all. How she was supposed to feel. After a few minutes contemplation she felt a weight on her back, and heard a voice ask if she was ok.

She jerked upright, banging her head on the top of the fridge as she did.

"OW! Damn it!" She turned around and looked straight at her husband's chest. She looked up and met his eyes.

"Honey, you okay?" he asked, concern filling his voice

"No, I'm not. My head hurts" she snapped irritably, frowning up at him. Hurt flashed across his features before he regained a calm neutral expression.

"Sorry." He said quietly "You were looking in there for a while, and …"

"Xander," She cut him off "I'm fine, perfectly capable of finding a soda in a fridge without the need for anyone to hold my hand" she snapped at him, taking her confused feelings out on him

"Ok, fine, but you didn't answer the first three times we asked, so I worried. Sue me." He sounded angry now, angry and hurt. Dawn visibly slumped,

"Honey, Xan, I'm sorry" she said sincerely, her voice quiet as she stepped towards him " I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap, I'm just tired and its been a long day" she explained quickly glancing over at Buffy to show him what she meant. She leaned up into his chest and his arms encircled her. She was glad they were the other side of the kitchen, not too close to the others.

"It's okay Dawn," He murmured into the top of her head "You wanna go to bed? Get some sleep and you can sort things out in the morning. It is quite late now, and you've had a lot to cope with today. And the doctor did say to rest." He reminded her.

"Hmmmm." She mumbled into his chest nodding her agreement, but enjoying her position in his arms. Still holding her he turned them both around so he was facing the others and her back was to them.

"Guys, we're gonna head up to bed. We're both shattered and its been a hard day. Willow, can you show Buffy and Spike to some guest rooms please?" he addressed them quietly, not wanting to disturb his wife.

"Sure Xan," Willow told him.

"Yes, well, I think it would be best if I were to retreat to bed myself as well" Giles stated standing from the table. Dawn moved out of Xander's embrace and stood by his side, his arm draped around her shoulder.

"Night Guys," She said to all of them as the pair headed out of the room,

"Yeah Night" Xander called as they headed upstairs. They reached their bedroom and Dawn flopped onto the bed.

"Oooohhh Goooood I could just fall asleep right now" she said to Xander, laughing. He laughed at her.

"Yeah, I suppose you could, But in the morning, It'd be like" He put on a mock high voice "Oh Xander, Why did you let me sleep in my clothes, now they're all icky and I'll have to get them dry cleaned" he teased her laughing.  She reached up the bed and threw one of the pillows at him.

"I do not sound like that!" she laughed.

"Ok honey, you keep telling yourself that" he mocked as he pulled her up off the bed so she could get changed.

"Don't worry I will" she said, as she wondered over to her drawers and pulled out some pyjamas. They both changed quickly and fell into bed. Xander reached over and turned off the light bathing them in darkness. They could hear the others moving around and going to various bedrooms. Dawn snuggled up to Xander's side and almost immediately fell asleep.

Xander however had thousands of thoughts rolling around in his head, and as the last of the noise in the house died down signalling the others were all in bed. He tried unsuccessfully to sleep, but found he kept going over and over the day's events in his head, He knew sleep would be a long time coming that night.


	7. Fragile Hearts

A/N: here you go, I managed this one quick for a change, hope you like it

Disclaimer: If you couldn't already guess I don't own the Buffy verse. Unfortunately. If I did I'd be much richer!.

Dawn woke slowly the next morning, coming out of a haze of sleep to see the sun streaming in through a gap in the curtains. She stretched and saw that her husband was already up. Glancing at the clock on the wall she saw that it was already late and everyone would have left for work. She sighed deeply and pulled herself out of bed. It took a few seconds for her brain to kick into gear and she remembered the events of the previous day.

"Buffy" she whispered. A sudden wave of nausea overtook her thought she was unsure whether it was morning sickness, or a response to her thoughts.

She hurried across the room and entered the en-suite and quickly found herself emptying the meagre contents of her stomach. When she was done she moved over to the wash basin, consciously avoiding looking in the mirror above it.

She filled the basin with cold water and dipped her hands in, sighing with relief at the cooling sensation. She stooped down and splashed some on her face, then emptied the basin again. After she'd scrubbed her teeth clean she debated with herself whether or not to have a full shower, but eventually decided she'd make do with a thorough wash. After she'd finished she took a nervous glance in the mirror. She was still very pale, and there were a couple of fairly large dark circles underneath her eyes, but she decided she didn't look too bad considering.

She returned to her bedroom and went straight to her wardrobe to select some clothes. After much deliberation she chose a pair of fairly loose fitting straight legged grey pants and a thin baby pink long sleeved sweater. To keep her feet warm she pulled some black socks on, then, almost as an afterthought she yanked on her low heeled black ankle boots.

She moved to her dresser and picked up her hairbrush and ran it through her long brown hair so that it fell in a silky mane halfway down her back, then decided she wanted to keep it off her face and pulled it into a loose low ponytail. She brushed some powder over her face to brighten up her complexion a little and then just sat staring into the space behind her head in the mirror. She took a few long deep breaths to calm herself down.

'You can do this' she said to herself 'It's okay' before standing up swiftly and breezing out of the room. She went straight downstairs and into the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of orange juice, and threw some ice in it to keep it cool. She made herself some toast, thinking that even though she didn't want to eat, she would need her strength for what was coming. However, when she lifted the toast to her lips, she was overwhelmed with such nausea that she crossed the kitchen and dumped the whole lot straight into the dustbin. She left the kitchen and walked through to the den where she collapsed into one of her favourite overstuffed chairs that sat looking out of the window.

As she sat there she watched the street outside, and the people that passed. She'd always loved to watch people and would make up stories in her head about them, like that youngish man passing now, she decided that he'd not long left his girlfriends house after a night of passion, and was now going home to his wife to look after their three kids, and that was the reason for the downtrodden manner about him. She giggled to herself. Remembering the trouble she used to get into when she was younger and just used to spout out these stories loudly to whoever was near her. Although she knew for a while now that her childhood memories were fake, she'd come to terms with it, and accepted it. To her they were still her memories, and all the people she knew and cared about shared them, so she was past caring.

She lapsed into silent contemplation and stayed there at the window watching for quite a while, until she heard a quiet cough and a shuffle behind her. Startled out of her reverie she jumped and twisted in her seat. She was surprised to see Buffy standing a few paces behind her waiting patiently to be noticed.

"Buffy" she said quietly standing to face her. Buffy stepped forward closing some of the gap between them.

"Dawn, … I" Buffy started moving to embrace her sister, Dawn took a couple of steps back, out of her sisters reach. Buffy looked up at her, hurt shining in her eyes.

"No, Buffy, … I think we need to talk." She gestured at the sofa a little further into the room. Buffy looked a little disappointed and conflicted, yet went and sat as Dawn suggested. Dawn sat down at the other end, as far away from her sister as she could physically get while still on the same sofa. They were silent, each watching the other for a few minutes until Dawn sighed angrily and broke the awkward silence.

"So, Talk." She told her sister, a hint of frustration in her voice.

"Well, I uh. That is um… I really don't know where to start" Buffy stammered uncharacteristically. Dawn took a long look at her and started to speak coolly.

"Well, Why don't you start at the beginning? hmm? Start with telling me why the sister I've thought dead for the past six years, suddenly appears out of the blue, saying 'Oops, Sorry I wasn't dead after all' Why not once in those seven years you didn't even try and contact any of us? Why I, no, WE have been mourning you for the last seven years when you've been off god knows where doing god knows what! Oh yeah – and exactly how was Spike out in broad daylight yesterday? Ooohh! Here's a good one, how about you tell me WHY exactly you're gone for seven years and the minute you appear, you start making judgements and trying to tell me what to do.? And you act like nothings happened, like everything's just like it used to be. Well it's not Buffy, so you'd better start talking." Dawn's voice had been growing steadily louder, and she was getting more and more agitated. Sometime during her rant Dawn had stood up and was now facing her sister. Now she was feeling light-headed and dizzy and had to put a hand out to steady herself slightly as her legs trembled a bit. She took a few deep breaths, glaring at her sister.

"Dawn, I, I'm sorry" was all Buffy said, standing up to match her sister.

"Sorry doesn't cut it Buffy" Dawn spat, her voice dripping with ice. "What did you think you could just turn up after so long, and everything would be all, … all hugs and puppies? Well, Did you?" Buffy just stared at her speechless. "Answer me God Damn you!" Dawn screamed at her.

"Dawn we didn't mean to hurt you"

"But you did" Dawn stated quietly, "You Did and you can't imagine what it's been like, how hard its been for all of us. You can't just pop up and expect us to carry on like nothings happened, like you weren't dead for the last seven years!"

"I wasn't dead Dawnie" Buffy reminded her quietly.

"You may as well have been" Dawn shouted, "Did you even think about the rest of us? Did you wonder, or even care, whether or not we actually survived?"

"Of course we did Dawnie"

"Don't call me that, Only people who are close to me call me that" Dawn spat, Buffy flinched at her words.

"Dawn, we did, Do, care" Buffy said taking a step towards her sister.

"That's why you disappeared then, is it?" Dawn said coldly "Because you cared so much?"

"N – No – we didn't know, we couldn't – How could we have known where you'd all go? Which direction you'd head in?"

"Well you could have taken an educated guess. I mean, it's not much of a stretch to say we'd probably go to LA at some point to see Angel, check in with him, tell him you'd…" Dawn broke off, her voice full of emotion. She looked at the floor trying to stem her tears, she gasped as a thought occurred to her and she looked back up at Buffy, "God, Buffy, does he even know?" Buffy looked away, breaking their eye contact, and Dawn knew the answer.

"I- we – uh, I couldn't face you, any of you, not after the way I'd been behaving, not after what happened down there. And something happened. To Spike – we needed some time. Time alone together to deal – to sort things out. We couldn't have done that around you guys."

"Oh well that makes everything ok then doesn't it? You needed time, so you took it, and damn the rest of us." Dawn scoffed sarcastically.

"No that's not what I meant, you know that" Buffy pleaded regaining Dawn's eye contact.

"I don't know anything about you anymore Buffy" Dawn informed her. "You didn't even think to at least let someone know you were alright - alive even. God, you are so selfish, Buffy. It's always been about you, You couldn't handle it, you had to lead, you were the slayer, we should all pity you and bow down. GROW UP! Life just isn't all about you, you know – the rest of us are here too."

"well you seem to have done just fine without me." Buffy snapped, fed up of being shouted at.

"What?" Dawn asked quietly with a dangerous edge to her voice that Buffy either didn't detect, or ignored.

"You've all done just fine – You didn't need me. Look at you. You and Xander, Willow and Giles. Everything's worked out fine. You're married – to Xander – and you're pregnant! Willow's got a girlfriend and from what I heard last night they seem pretty happy. And Giles is fine, he seems happy enough. You didn't need me at all, you were probably better off without me."

"Jesus, you have no idea at all do you? No idea of the hell it's been, how hard we've worked to get to where we are? Yes we've moved on and learnt to put masks on to hide the pain, We've had to. There you go again making everything about you. It's been seven years Buffy, we've had to move on,  put our pain behind a façade." Dawn was almost in tears.

"You weren't there for anything, Buffy, nothing important in my life. My eighteenth and twenty-first birthdays, the day I first fell in love, got engaged. You weren't there for my wedding! And you should have been, Could have been. It's your fault. I lost Mom, and then you, - twice in two years. And I didn't have to, I didn't. You could have been there." Dawn ranted, her tears now cascading down her cheeks before she finally collapsed to the ground in huge heart-wrenching sobs.

Buffy knelt by her side and pulled her shaking sister into a tight embrace. Dawn, lost in grief, took a few moments to register that her sister's arms were tightly wrapped around her. She pushed her way out of Buffy's arms and stood up, backing away.

"No, it just doesn't work like that" Dawn said backing into the doorway. "You don't get to just say you're sorry and have everything be alright again. I'm sorry but I just can't do that. Can't pretend like I didn't think you were dead for seven years. It's not that easy. It's gonna take some time" Dawn told Buffy, more tears forming in her eyes, but not falling.

"O-okay" Buffy said shakily, climbing to her feet, grateful for the small amount of hope Dawn had given her that they'd be alright eventually.

Dawn could see the unshed tears inb Buffy's eyes but wouldn't allow herself to comfort her sister. She gave her sister a final look, a plea evident in her eyes. 'please don't make this hard, give me time'

"I'm going for a walk – clear my head" Dawn announced.

"No, Dawn – you can't – what if you collapse again?" Buffy rushed stepping towards her sister.

"I'm a big girl now, I can take care of myself, besides – you're not really in a position to tell me what I can and can't do. I need to be alone" With that Dawn spun on her heel and walked out of the house slamming the door behind her, as Buffy just stood there mutely, unshed tears finally over spilling to flood down her face


	8. Anger, and tears before bedtime

A/N: Sorry all that it's been so very very long, I'll try and do better, and I'll make no excuses. Without any further ado, here is the next instalment.

* * *

As Dawn heard the door slam behind her she walked on, flying down the steps of the front porch onto the path, turning away from the town she walked fast, completely ignoring the direction she was taking. Her shoulders were tense, arms folded across her chest defensively. She kept her eyes low on the ground, only occasionally glancing up to check she wasn't on a collision course with anything or anyone.

She had absolutely no idea of where she was going or why. All she knew was that she couldn't have stayed in the house. Just couldn't have been near Buffy for a second longer after screaming at her like that, letting everything go.

She remembered the look on her sisters face, the intense hurt and confusion, and felt immensely guilty for a few seconds before she remembered what Buffy had done, how she'd hurt them all.

'Well' thought Dawn 'I'm the last person she expected to blow up at her, meek little Dawn, always following orders. But then, it's not like she knows me know. I'm a completely different person to the way I was back then.'

She walked on faster, so angry at her sister she could barely think straight. While she was walking, all she could think about was Buffy and her blatant disregard for everybody's feelings. So she continued walking, letting her fast stride calm her and take her mind away. All the time not paying any attention to her surroundings or just how far from home she had gone.

* * *

Meanwhile back at the house Buffy was alone. Spike had gone out earlier, though still after everyone left for work, to give the sisters some time to talk alone.

She sank into the sofa, going over Dawn's harsh words in her head. A lot of it was true, she mused, but she hadn't thought Dawn would be so explosive now, so ready to dish out harsh truths. The last time she'd seen her little sister, she'd been positively meek and timid in comparison.

When she'd seen Dawn by pure chance in the middle of Boston she had been completely elated, and absolutely sure her sister would feel the same way.

However, she hadn't expected so much open hostility directed at her. Even last night, dawn had seemed more open to the idea of Buffy suddenly being back in her life, but now?

Yes, Buffy accepted that she had been remarkably selfish and thoughtless, but couldn't Dawn see that her and Spike had needed the time alone, couldn't they all see that she had needed that space from her entire past?

She had thought dawn would be glad to see her, a bit upset maybe, but happy and grateful to see her surely.

Buffy finally let her tears overspill, unable really to control them. She put her head in her hands and let her misery and sorrow overtake her, her sobs wracking her entire body. She sat there for hours not noticing the passage of time, but letting her misery grow with each sob, each passing minute until she heard a timid knock at the front door. She looked up and thought for a second before realising that it was probably Spike, then dried her face with her sleeve and went to let him in.

When she saw that it was indeed Spike on the other side of the door, she collapsed into his arms with fresh sobs.

"Love?" He questioned looking down at the seemingly fragile blonde that had just bowled into him.

"She…..Dawn…..I….." She gasped out between sobs.

"Didn't go too well then, pet?" He offered. She drew her head back to look up at him through her tears

"No," She sniffed "She – She hates me, Spike" Then she buried her face in his chest again, her sobs continuing with renewed vigour.

"I'm sure she doesn't actually hate you Love" He told her, nuzzling his face in her long honey blonde hair. "She's probably just upset. I mean, it's gotta be a bit of a shock for the bit, hasn't it? Us just turning up like that seven years after she thought us dead and gone, on the same day she finds out she's expectin. You've just gotta let her calm down, and everything will be fine pet, Honest." Still sobs wracked the tiny body in his arms.

"Er- Love, d'you think maybe we could – er, go inside a bit? Crying on the doorstep of your sisters' house isn't really a great idea, especially seeing as how no-one around here knows us"

Buffy made no acknowledgment that she'd heard him, just moved backwards with her head still buried in his chest, dragging him into the house with her. He pushed the door shut behind them and wrapped the petite blonde in his arms.

"C'mere Love" He whispered into her hair, "It'll all be fine, Promise."

"How…do…you…know…that"" She choked out.

"Cause I Know. It's Dawn, she's your sister. Of course it'll be fine. It'll blow over you'll see. She's just in shock" He comforted.

"But, God Spike, you didn't hear the things she said. It was all true, and it was _so_ horrible."

"Shhh Love, we all say things we don't mean in anger. That's all, she's angry, and the reason for that is that she's shocked and a little upset. She's probably not feeling herself. Don't forget about the baby, that's probably not helping. Hormones n all."

"God, how could I forget?" She asked him, a strange look flashing across her face, before being replaced with a mix of hurt and anger.

"My baby sister, married to my best friend and pregnant at 23! Am I the only one who sees why its wrong? Who sees that maybe she's a bit young for all this?"

"Yeah Buffy, but you can't criticise her over that, plenty of people get married and have children young, and it's not like we've been here to advise. She's had to do it all herself."

"Yes, but I wanted better for her."

"Buffy, its her life, she's gotta live it herself, make her own mistakes You gotta accept the fact that you weren't here to help her make her decisions. You can't criticise her on who or what she chose."

"But this is such a big mistake. It's not something she can just back out of if it doesn't go right. She can't just leave it all behind and turn away when it all goes wrong. She deserves better. She could've done better for herself than_ this."_

**_"WHAT!!" _**Roared a voice behind them, Buffy and Spike had been standing in the den and hadn't noticed the front door open and one of the houses occupants arrive home. They spun round to face the entryway and came face to face with a very shocked, confused, hurt and angry Xander.


	9. In need of an explanation, and a good ar...

A/N: Hey guys, Sorry its taken me longer than I would've liked to get this out but its less than the usual wait which is good right? Since I'm doing my degree study at the moment, and this fic has me procrastinating waaaay to much on my assignments already, the next update won't be until my first assignment is handed in in a fortnight, and then I'll hopefully be able to continue with updates much more regular cause I'll be up to date! Anyway, on with the story, and thanks to my lovely reviewers….

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, please don't sue me cause I'm only a lowly student with just about two pennies in my pocket to last me……..

* * *

"What. Did. You. Just. Say?" Asked Xander forcefully, barely masking his anger. They were both silent.

"Well? He snapped

"n-nothing" Buffy said quietly.

"Funny, because I could have sworn I just heard you saying that you thought my _wife _deserves better than me, and the life I've given her." Buffy and Spike just looked at him.

"Am I correct; is that not what you were just discussing?" He paused, waiting for an answer that didn't come. "Answer me God Damn You! Answer me when I ask you a question!"

Buffy looked upset, knowing she'd been caught.

"Xander, I -"

"Don't try and take it back Buffy, don't pretend like you didn't mean it. I knew you well enough and long enough to know when you mean something." He cut her off; not wanting to hear the false statements he knew would tumble from her lips. Buffy winced, picking up on his use of the past tense.

"Xander, I'm sorry" She pleaded.

"No. You're not Buffy. I can see it in your eyes. Don't lie to me. Not now." He snapped at her roughly, quickly losing control of his anger. "Care to tell me _why_ exactly you think she deserves better than me hmm? Why you think that our marriage, our baby are all one big mistake for her, and it's all gonna go wrong? Why I'm not good enough?" He broke eye contact and looked away from the pair of them, disgusted with their thoughts.

"Xan, I"

"Don't call me that! You don't get to say I'm not good enough for Dawn and then use pet names for me! Are you crazy?"

"No, Xander, I just," She sighed wondering how to explain this to him.

"It's just that I always hoped to give her more, to give her a perfect life. I always wanted her to have more than I did. To get to be young and experience the whole thing properly, as we were supposed to."

"And what makes you think that she hasn't? What makes you think this isn't good enough hey?"

"Xander, she's so **_young_**. She's only 23 for Christ's sake, yet she's married and pregnant! And to be honest, you're track record with relationships isn't all that hot is it? Remember Cordelia, cheating on her with **_Willow_**? And Anya? Yes leaving her at the altar is such a good recommendation for being married to my little sister! See if you screwed those up, what's to say you won't screw Dawn over?"

"I've grown up a lot since then, we both have. I'd never hurt Dawn, Never. I Love her."

"And you didn't love them?"

"That's different and you know it."

"But you have to admit that she's still so young. What'll happen in a few years when she realises that this isn't what she wanted but she's stuck with a husband and a kid, A husband that's so much older than her? What'll happen to her then?"

"That won't happen!"

"How do you _know_?"

"I know Dawn. That's how and it's more than you can say. What happened to you saying I was the only one you trusted with her hmm?"

"Yeah, but I meant as a big brother/father figure. I didn't meant for you to go screw her and knock her up! Honestly Xander"

"That's not what happened"

"Then what did happen, cause it sure looks that way from where I'm standing. What was it an 'accident'?"

"We looked out for each other!" He shouted, trying to make her see. He continued quieter "For a long time, after, after Sunnydale, she was so lost, so broken. And so was I, but she found me. I fell in love with her, so quickly, but I never did anything about it. Nothing! It was all her. She came to me, told me she thought she loved me and she kissed me. If she hadn't I would never have… I'd probably still be pining after her."

"So that's it, huh? She kissed you and you never though, hag on a sec, I'm seven years older than her. I should stop her. You just took advantage of the fact that she was vulnerable!"

"No I didn't. This all happened a while after, It's not like Sunnydale went Poof! And we jumped into each others arms!"

"But just because you were there for each other, you felt affection and decided it was love? That's not love Xander, that's friendly feelings."

"I know what I feel, and it's not just friendly feelings. I was there for her then and always will be. Someone had to, Cause you Damn well weren't!"

"I, uh well I…" She stuttered, unable to find a response.

"See now the tables have turned and you haven't got an answer to that have you?"

"At the time, I couldn't handle her, all of you, all the stuff I was going through at the time, I could barely deal with that, let alone everything else you guys were going through."

"Oh yes Buffy, very mature. You're going through a few things and decide that you can't find it in yourself to at least let your sister know you're alive. It's not like we would've dumped all our stuff on you and expected you to make everything right!"

"It's what you always did in the past" She said quietly.

"Oh grow **_up_** Buffy. You're sister, who you were meant to protect and care for thought you were dead. Do you have any idea what that did to her? How broken she was over you? Have you any clue to what she's been through the last few years?"

"No I don't. But then none of you have any idea what I went through the last Fourteen years!" Ever since I became the Slayer, it was one burden after another. One more thing dumped on me to cope with. None of you had any idea how hard it was for me, and yet all you did was criticise me all the time."

"No Buffy, Listen. We never dumped on you. You never got that did you. All we did was what you asked us to. We told you our problems. That's what you wanted. All we did was try to help you, try to take your burdens away. But you wouldn't let us. You thought we were just passing ours onto you. God I never understood that before. So while we were dealing with losing you, and it's consequences you were off trying to deal with an imaginary burden. God Buffy, why didn't you get it?"

"What do you mean consequences?"

"I'm talking about what happened as a result of you being dead. We couldn't hide it from the world this time Buffy. There were consequences. We had to tell your Dad. God, when he found out we almost lost Dawn." A tear escaped his eye at this point.

"What do you mean lost Dawn? What happened?"

"Your Dad decided that since she had no relatives left to take care of her, that he wanted her. He tried to take her to Spain to live with him, and his new twenty year old wife!"

"He's married again?"

"Yes, and yes she's younger than you. God we all had to fight so hard for Dawn. It almost killed her. She, she told me at the time that she'd thought about suicide. She hated the thought of going that much. See we were her last link to her past, and her future."

"So, what happened, how did you get him to change his mind?"

"We didn't. We had to get him declared an Unfit Father. Which we managed, but we also had to find a new family for Dawn. One of the conditions was that she had to be adopted into a new family."

"So, who..?"

"Giles. We haven't seen or heard from your father since he told Dawn that she was no good anyway and that the only reason he had wanted her was out of a sense of obligation. He told her that she only would have got in the way with his wife, and be a hindrance to him."

"God, he didn't"

"Yes he did, and It broke Dawns heart even more. But she made it. She had us and me. And we pulled her through. She gone on to do everything she's dreamed of. Not once has our relationship stopped her in anything. She's happy, and I'm happy, and if you can't deal with that and accept us and the baby, then you need to leave right now."

He pointed at the door as he said this. Buffy looked from his face, to Spike's, then to the open door his finger was pointing at. She sighed lightly and walked around Xander towards the open door…

* * *

A/N That's where I'll leave it for now….hehehehe. Please Review... 


	10. Lost

A/N: Here you go, I'm up to date on assignments at the moment so with any luck I can update a bit more often, but don't hold your breath lol. Thanks to all my reviewers, Here you go.

* * *

Buffy walked towards the open door without looking back at either Xander or Spike. Xander hung his head when she walked past him.

Buffy reached the door and put one hand on the frame; she looked out into the early spring day and closed the door, turning round to face Xander and Spike.

"I'm not going anywhere" she spoke clearly and quietly. Xander turned to face her, tears in his eyes.

"Buffy? Does this mean…?"

"I guess so, it just…. It's kinda shocking when you miss so much, but you never realise that you've missed anything? I guess…" She paused and took a deep breath, "I guess I expected everything to just have stayed the same, waiting for me, y'know?"

"Yeah Buffy, I know, but it hasn't, we've all moved on, we've got to get to know each other again, It's not gonna be easy. You up for it?" She smiled at him

"Yeah, I am." He smiled back at her, and she moved towards him to embrace him in a hug. He looked towards the stairs.

"Dawn up there?" he nodded towards the stairs and looked questioningly at the pair in front of him.

"Umm, no," Buffy answered quietly, her smile disappearing.

"Where is she then?" He shouted out for her, "Dawn?" Buffy looked to spike to explain for her, not wanting to anger her friend again.

"Xander?" Xander whipped his head around at the unfamiliar sound of Spike using his name.

"Where is she?" He asked quietly, his smile gone now too.

"She's not here, See, she and Buffy, well they sorta had a little snit earlier, and the little bit took off."

"Took off?" He asked looking straight at Buffy, "She took off? On her own? And you let her?" He questioned, becoming agitated again. "Where you not at the hospital yesterday? Did you not listen to the doctor?"

"I, uh, well, she wouldn't listen to me, she just went" Buffy said, pain in her voice.

"Great, well, do you know where?"

"No, she didn't uh didn't say" Xander looked around the room.

"I've gotta ring Giles" He announced to no one in particular. He left the room to make the phone call, and while he was gone Buffy and Spike stood there in silence, not looking at each other. A few minutes later, Xander came back into the room.

"I've talked to both him and Willow, neither have seen her, but they'll both be home soon, then we're gonna have to look for her. What did you fight over anyway?"

"You, us, everything, She said, she needed time, before she could…." Buffy broke off, fresh tears in her eyes.

"Right," Xander spoke quietly, not liking to see his friend in pain, but not having the strength to comfort her after the pain she'd put his wife and family through. Spike pulled Buffy into his arms, and she allowed herself to let a couple off tears fall, before taking a deep breath and composing herself. She pulled back out of Spike's arms, and walked to the window,

"How long has she been gone?" Xander asked quietly,

"A few hours" Buffy didn't look at him staring up and down the street, willing Dawns location to reveal itself to her.

* * *

Meanwhile Dawn was still walking. She had no idea as to her location, the time or her surroundings. Her mind was still on her sister and now also on her baby. She was no longer angry as such, just upset, and her mind was going a mile a minute.

'It's strange' she thought to herself for the millionth time that day 'that Buffy and Spike show up on the same day I find out I'm pregnant.' She carried on, for how long she couldn't say, but before she knew it, not that she realized, darkness started to fall. It wasn't until it was completely dark that Dawn paid any attention to the fact at all. For the first time she paid attention to where she'd ended up. She was at some kind of docks, and there weren't many people around. Certainly no one had noticed the young girl walking in their midst. She sat down on a bench, taking in her surroundings. She wondered where exactly she was, and how far she'd come. She realized with a shock, that everyone would be worried about her, and she hadn't brought her cell phone with her. Hadn't even brought a coat. She pulled her arms round her chest, hugging her torso tightly. Ashe shivered, it was quite cold down by the water.

* * *

Xander was getting more worried by the second. Darkness had now fallen and there was still no sign of Dawn. Giles and Willow had come straight home from work after his phone call, had joined together and taken the car to drive the streets in search of her. Faith and Robin hadn't seen her, but Robin had gone out searching. Only stopping when Faith had rung him, she'd gone into labour two weeks early so they'd had to head to the hospital, but had promised to check for Dawn there and call with any news. Buffy and Spike had also gone out looking, but Xander had had to stay behind in case Dawn came home, or there was any news. He hadn't wanted to but Willow had explained that he probably wouldn't be much use searching while he was as worried as he was. The phone rang. Xander raced to pick it up, but didn't hear anything on the other end.

"Hello?...Hello?" Just as he was about to hang up, he heard a click on the line, and a small voice spoke

"Xander?"

* * *

Dawn had found a payphone, and miraculously found a few coins deep in her pants pocket. She'd had no idea how to go about getting home, as she had no idea where she was exactly. When she'd found the payphone she'd been overjoyed. She was cold and tired and here was her ticket home. Of course she had to find money to put in it first. Then shed found it in her pants, and tried to call home. She struggled with the machine at first, but finally got it to ring, She heard him answer quickly, but he didn't seem to be able to hear her responses at first, she put the last couple of coins in and prayed that it'd work,

"Xander?"

* * *

Xander sighed with relief.

"Dawnie? Honey?"

"Xander, come get me" The quiet voice implored.

"Where are you?"

* * *

Dawn looked around herself, trying to find someway of identifying her location.

"I'm, uhhh at a dock, I uh don't know exactly where" she spoke softly. "I'm cold Xan, so cold, Please come get me."

* * *

Xander took in what she'd told him, the docks, but which ones?

"Honey, can you tell me anything else?" silence… "Dawn?"

Nothing, she'd gone. Xander hung up, then picked up again and dialled.

* * *

Dawn looked at the receiver in horror, her money had run out, and she hadn't given him much to go on. She replaced the handset and went back to her bench, awaiting her knight in armour. She knew he'd come eventually, he had to….. 


	11. And Found

A/N: Sorry Sorry Sorry. Yes I know it's been a year, but all I can say is I've had horrible writers block on this story that I'm still struggling with. But I hope I'm getting back into it now. Here it is.

* * *

Xander pulled up at the entrance to yet another dock. He climbed out of his car and walked a little way in,

"Dawn?" he cried into the cool night air. "Dawn, are you here?"

From where she was sitting, Dawn just caught the sound of his voice. She lifted her aching head from the hard back of the bench.

"Xander?" she called back. "I'm over here" He heard his wife's voice and relief washed through him. The tension that had been building since her phone call rapidly drained, letting his shoulders loosen and relax.

"Thank God" he whispered under his breath. He started to walk towards the small sound of her voice, until he saw a slender figure walking towards him. He moved faster, and when he was sure it was her, he swept forwards and pulled her into his arms. His hands entangled themselves in her long chocolate hair; his face nuzzled the side of her head. He could smell the tropical scent of her shampoo and it comforted him.

"Dawnie, I've been so worried." He all but whispered into her ear, his voice relaying his anguish and relief.

"I'm sorry, so sorry; I just had to get away. I couldn't be there anymore."

"It's ok. Its all ok now," he reassured her.

"Take me home?" she pleaded moving her head back so she could look into the depths of his eyes. He nodded at her and smiled, pleased to see her smile back at him. She stepped out of his embrace, but he kept an arm around her shoulders, unwilling to let her go. He led her slowly to the car and they slipped in. He drove home, and the car was filled with a comfortable silence, as each occupant was engulfed in their own thoughts.

Dawn was still thinking about her sister, and all the things that had been said that morning. She knew inside herself that she really was glad that her sister was alive, it was just a massive shock, and so soon after another huge shock. She knew it would just take time, time to get over the hurt and anger. She honestly understood that Buffy had needed the space and the time, could get it that she needed to be alone with Spike after all that had happened, but it would have been nice if she'd told them that instead of letting them think she were dead for seven whole years. She sighed.

"Honey? You ok?"

"Uh-huh" she nodded at him, still looking out the window, watching the scenery go by "just thinking."

He nodded and smiled, even though she couldn't see him. He went back to concentrating on his driving and soon enough they pulled up outside their home. He put the car in park and turned the engine off, yet they still sat there for a couple of minutes, neither moving. Finally Xander turned to his young wife and put his hand on her delicate leg.

"Shall we?" he asked her gently. Dawn looked up at him, apprehension evident on her face. She nodded anyway and pulled at the door handle, letting the cool fresh spring air fill the car suddenly. She clambered out, and Xander followed from his side. They headed up towards the house, Xander reached for the door handle, and he looked at Dawn, questioning her with his eyes.

"You ready?" She nodded, focusing on the door, and what lay behind it. He turned the handle and pushed. They walked inside slowly, to be greeted to a cacophony of noise

"Willow, No! I never meant to hurt you, hurt any of you; especially not Dawn." Buffy's voice was the loudest.

"But you did. You never think Buffy. Never. You have to learn to take responsibility for your actions. And what you said about Xander. I never thought you'd feel that way. You used to say he was the only person you trusted to look after her, and now… God Buffy, you are so selfish, you always have been." Willow broke off and took a deep breath, Xander and Dawn took this as their cue to enter the den.

"Hi, Guys" Dawn all but whispered.

"Dawn!" came the collective gasp throughout the room, all previous tension forgotten. Dawn found herself smothered by Giles and Willow, Buffy and Spike hanging back, shyly.

"Umm, oxygen becoming an issue" Dawn stated when neither let go after a few minutes. They hurried to let go as the phone rang shrilly, startling everyone. Xander reached it first.

"Hello? … Oh God, Yes Robin, I've found her, She's here how's… yes, yes, we'll be right there." He hung up, looking worried, nervous and excited all at once.

"Faiths asking for us, she's almost ready."

"For what?" Buffy asked, confused. No-one had mentioned the other slayer to her, and no-one had told her about the marriage and children.

"To Give Birth. You coming?" Willow asked. Buffy looked shocked, but nodded her assent. They all moved as one back outside and into the car.


End file.
